Of course invention of airbags has saved a lot of human lives however currently the problem of their safety for children is being widely discussed. Some experts state that the airbags due to their inflation speed and weigh can cause serious injures or even fatal cases.
In this article we want to discuss the problem of airbags safety in regard to children and give you some tips of keeping your kids safe in the vehicle.
Are the Airbags Dangerous?
The speed of airbags inflation is considered to be the biggest danger they may represent. In the event of an accident or just of a sharp braking the airbags inflate at a very high speed. And if a child sitting on the front passenger seat is not properly fixed he or she can be very seriously injured or even killed by the inflated airbag.
This situation can be caused by a bad-fitting seat-belt. The seat-belts are specifically designed for the cases of a crash or sudden braking when your body is thrown forwards. They should tightly keep you across the chest and stomach area and pull your body backwards into the seat. However very often the seatbelts designed for adults do not properly fit to children aged under 12 years. Owing to this children can slide forwards in their seat. In most circumstances this is not a big problem as a seatbelt still performs its protective function. But this is not the case when your car is provided with airbags.
If the passenger sitting on the front seat is properly fixed by the seatbelt and is accordingly kept at a safe distance from the airbag, the latter will just protect him or her in the event of a crash. But if the passenger is not properly secured by the seatbelt the airbag inflated at a terrible speed can cause more injures than the accident itself.
Several cases of children’s injure and deaths caused by the airbags have been registered. These cases however, could have been avoided if the children had been properly secured by the seatbelt.
Airbag safety
However despite all these horror stories the airbags are considered to be very safe in the event the passengers are adequately secured by the seatbelt. So if your kid is too small to be properly fixed by the seatbelt move him or her to the rear seat instead of a front one.
Generally speaking the rear seat is the safest place in a car. Most cars are provided only with front airbags – they protect front passenger and driver from being thrown into the window screen. So your kids sitting on the rear sear are protected from being injured by suddenly inflated airbags.
You should never put your child seated in a special rear-facing car seat on the front passenger seat. They simply can be crashed into the back of the seat by the airbag inflating impact. A booster seat or a child car seat should be placed only on the rear seats.